How To Not Get Emotional When Writing the End of Your Novel #writers

I was sobbing, reaching for the tissues, blowing my nose loudly and making whimpering noises as I wrote the end of my novel.

After wiping my eyes I quickly nipped onto a Writer’s Facebook group and posed the question – am I the only one who feels like an emotional wreck after writing the end of a story? It seems I am not alone.

Here are some reasons why you might find yourself lying on the floor sobbing your heart out, after writing the final chapter of your story:

As a writer you live through the eyes of your character so by the end of a good story you both will have been through the literary mill – it is no surprise that you are feeling a bit wobbly.

If your character ends up in a happier place at the end of your story it can tug at the old heart-strings and you might find that lump rising at the back of your throat.

You and your character have got to know each other during the drafting process. You like them and they like you. Basically you have started an imaginary friendship in your head and writing the end of the story can feel like your friendship is breaking up. You know that people change, move on with their lives and the same applies to fictional characters.

You worry that things will never feel the same way again.

You are worried about change. Starting something new.

Here are some tips on surviving this testing time:

It is not goodbye. You will still see them again during the re-writing and editing process.

Let it out. Do what I did and cry it out. I felt a lot better afterwards.

Share the experience. Start a Facebook conversation or blog about it. I shared my pain with others and once I read that there were other writers out there weeping buckets after writing the end of their stories I felt a lot better.

Gratitude. Be grateful that you have experienced something wonderful with your character. Not many people get to have a special friendship with someone who doesn’t exist! Sigh!

Think of the reader. If you are getting emotional during the final scenes than your reader might experience the same feelings too. I am hoping the readers of Roxy will be blinking away some tears…sigh!

Positive. Think positive – you will start something new again and you will connect on the same level with another character again. Time is a great healer.

Please share your thoughts with me on this important subject – are you currently blubbering whilst writing the end of your draft?

For noting: you can write the end of some novels and feel completely different. Take for example my first bad novel, I hated the thing from start to finish and by the end I was planning a ‘farewell celebration!’ which included a bonfire in my back garden…sigh!

Share this:

Like this:

Related

Lucy Mitchell lives in South Wales with her husband, her two teenage daughters, a giant labrador and a gang of unruly cats.
Lucy is the author of the award winning blog, BlondeWriteMore and was a Featured Romance Author on Wattpad.
When she’s not working or writing, Lucy can be found listening to audiobooks in a muddy field with her dog or sat outside her local pub in the sunshine enjoying a glass of wine.
Her debut novel Instructions Falling In Love Again is OUT now and already pulling in some fabulous reviews ❤️

I also feel a sense of relief. Though that is probably because I am an introvert and extended exposure to other people is draining even when I like them. This is especially true when these people have been bunking in my mind for the past several months if not years.

However, I do have pangs of denial and sadness when I find out that the characters I’ve grown to love created by other people are riding off into the sunset. In this case, I am only drawing solace in the knowledge that we may yet see a new incarnation of Roxy again at some future date.

Yes. I’m just at the same stage and crying.. Even worse was the moment when I killed one of my characters. Luckily I live alone because I couldn’t stop crying.for days. I invented the man, I wrote him knowing I was going to kill him off, but I still got upset. I know it’s ridiculous but there it is. I feel better now I’ve confessed. Is there an equivalent to Alcoholics Anonymous for writers?

Interesting question, Lucy. I have the opposite reaction. When I type The End I’m overjoyed, with a happy dance around the living room. That said, when I haven’t read one of my stories in a while, t realize how much I’ve missed them. Congrats on completing the novel. You should celebrate!

I have this love hate relationship with Amie – we fight a lot and she sulks when I send her places she doesn’t want to go and then she takes charge. One day I’ll get my revenge. At the end of a book i just feel nervous that everyone will hate it and i’ll get no sales 😦

I’ve had tearjerker goodbyes mixed together with goodbye already. Usually I’m sick of the story but one character keeps me hanging on, then I SLAM the door and go onto something else. I’m a meany. Sigh.
Congratulations on finishing Roxy. She’s a fabulous character. I’ll miss reading her Mondays. ❤ 😀

I’m emotional when I’m writing. I laugh at my humorous moments and cry over the sad ones. I try to end all my books with something that will put a smile on the reader’s face, so I don’t usually have the feeling of wanting to cry with “The End.” I do a happy dance and order pizza. However, there is this odd depression that shows up about a week later, and it’s hard to get back to writing. It happens to me every time.

Congratulations on finishing The Diary of Roxie Collins. I haven’t been here long enough to follow along, but I’m looking forward to reading when you publish. 🙂

I felt a real sense of loss when one of my characters died in my novel and the group I was reading my chapters out to – on a weekly basis- also felt bereft because they had become so involved. I will never forget how that felt. It’s a good point to raise.

I was sorry to say goodbye to my characters and then wrote two more books about them because people asked me to. I miss the world that is peopled by my characters more than the people themselves as I always leave them in a good place ( love happy endings!) However, now I am between books I feel like crying. Real life is so dull in comparison.